Baseball 14u Off-Season Development Framework

Why | What | How | When

This baseball off-season development framework was originally created for the Elite 14u Jones team, which has since been dissolved. It was not formally sanctioned by the Elite organization, nor was it meant to be prescriptive. It was meant to be one sole example of an approach that one can take for off-season development. Development is very multi-faceted and strongly contextual to the athlete, circumstance, and their respective goals. Many people do not have any tacit knowledge on where to begin to create an off-season development plan. This is meant to be a starting point on their journey to discovering what is best for the athlete.

Why is “Athlete Name” Doing This?

  • “Athlete’s Name” Long-Term Dreams and Goals (Lofty): High-Level (D1) College Baseball

  • “Athlete’s Name” Intermediate Goals: Compete as a freshman in high-school baseball, basketball, and football

  • “Athlete’s Name” Short-Term Goals: 80th percentile in 14u classifications

  • Quote: "Develop the athlete. Lessons will not do that. Lessons assist in specific skill development, but they don't build the capacity for power, speed, and strength." Zach Dechant, Movement Over Maxes, TCU - Assistant Athletics Director - Human Performance, Baseball

What is “Athlete Name” Doing?

  • Development Plan | Capacity Planning:

    • 31 weeks, (Assume 5 days per week development = 155 days, or 150 days with 5 days margin)

      375 hours of total development work, 2.5hrs per day

    • Work load needs to be split between the five categories identified in the "How is He Going to Do It" section below

How is He Going to Do It: Throwing | Pitching Development Plan

  • THROWformance

    • 2x session per week (3hrs/week) for first 8 weeks of off-season (24 hours)

    • 1x session per week (1.5hrs) for remaining 24 weeks (36 total hours)

    • Sessions include numerous movements and modalities designed specifically for “Athlete’s Name” deficiencies

  • Pitching Lessons with Andrew Schwaab

    • 30m on a bi-weekly basis starting Nov through Feb (2.5 total hours)

  • Jaeger Long-Toss Program (3x/week, 30m :: totaling 47 hours) - Will be part of defensive work and defensive throwing progressions

    • Pull Downs (latter half of long toss program) to start in October

  • Warm-Up

    • 4 Strides

    • Shoulder Rolls, Forward and Backwards

    • Arm Circles:

      • Palms down going forward: (9 check points :: 12 reps with good form, if not, start with 6 reps each check point. Straight line between middle fingers, elbows slightly bent. Pivot from shoulders, not elbows. Be extra cognizant of working backward, not just forward. Hit every hour of imaginary clock.)

        • Small circles

        • 1/4 circles

        • 1/2 circles

        • 3/4 circles

        • full circles

        • 3/4 circles

        • 1/2 circles

        • 1/4 circles

        • small circles

      • Palms up going backwards (9 check points)

        • Small circles

        • 1/4 circles

        • 1/2 circles

        • 3/4 circles

        • full circles

        • 3/4 circles

        • 1/2 circles

        • 1/4 circles

        • small circles

    • J-Bands (11 exercises in 2 parts)

      • Find right distance away from fence to maintain good form on all exercises. Correct posture, fluid pace, work towards fatigue not failure, fluid breathing patterns, quality vs. quantity. Avoid muscling up and overstretching J-bands. Avoid placing clip at head level.

      • Macro exercises (Do not use momentum for any movements or move your head)

      • Utilize the laminated J-band exercise sheet for all 11 exercises that is in “Athlete’s Name” baseball bag

  • Elite Academy Throwing Progressions (3x/week starting Nov 2023 - 100 reps each session, 30m :: totaling 24 hours)

    • Fuego (4x pullbacks, 4x high-lows, 4x power stance, 4x rhythm throws)

    • Pullbacks

      • Fastball: 8x throws

      • Change-up: 8x throws

      • Cutters: 8x throws

    • High-Lows

      • Fastball: 8x throws

      • Cutters: 8x throws

      • Curveball: 8x throws

    • Power Stance

    • Rhythm Throws

      • Fastball: 8x throws

    • 90-ft Throws (infield arm action): 20x throws

  • Pitching fielding from the mound (groundballs to the mound, groundballs to first and coverage, pass balls, and bunting) as well as pick-offs will be covered in the infield development plan section of “Athlete’s Name” development plan

  • There are very specific strength, power, and mobility exercises that directly translate into cultivating the power, balance, and acceleration needed to improve pitching, but these are interwoven into the strength and mobility sections of “Athlete’s Name” development plan

How is He Going to Do It: Infield Development Plan

How is He Going to Do It: Speed | Agility | Mobility Development Plan

How is He Going to Do It: Hitting Development Plan

  • Tony Witmus: 30 minute session on a bi-weekly basis throughout the whole offseason :: 5 total hours

  • Hitting Progressions: Autonomously at home in the basement :: 3 days per week for 30m, totaling 47 hours

  • Live BP, independent of team practices :: 2 days per week for 60 minutes, totaling 62 hours  

    • Tee Progressions: Same four game bat progressions from above

    • Soft Toss Progressions

      • Crossovers: 8x reps

      • Gameday swings, 4x reps inside, middle, outside

    • Front toss progressions

      • Gameday Swings 16 reps

    • Live Toss Progressions (No-Strike Hitting Approach, Timing, Inside, Outside, Situations, Savage)

      • Gameday swings 50x reps (100 reps if no machine)

    • Machine Progressions (Primarily timing and working 76-85mph)

      • Gamedays swings 50x reps

  • There are very specific strength, power, and mobility exercises that directly translate into cultivating the power and acceleration needed to improve hitting, but these are interwoven into the strength and mobility sections of Emilio's development plan

How is He Going to Do It: Strength | Power | Mobility Development Plan

  • Quote: "These results suggest that the combination of light and heavy loads elicits greater all round improvements in the strength-power profile than power training with a light load only"; Developing Maximal Neuromuscular Power, Cormie, McGuigan, and Newton

  • Strength and mobility workouts will follow periodization blocks and created on a monthly basis.

When is He Going to Do It | Example Monthly Off-Season Development Schedule for August 2023: Here